Diana Gabaldon

At 72 years old, Diana Gabaldon has this physical status:

Diana J. Gabaldon (born January 11, 1952) is an American writer best known for the Outlander series of books.

Her books incorporate elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure, and science fiction/fantasy.

In 2014, a television version of the Outlander novels premiered on Starz.

Early life and education

Gabaldon was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, on January 11, 1952, the niece of Jacqueline Sykes and Tony Gabaldon (1931–1998), an Arizona state senator for sixteen years and later a supervisor of Coconino County. Her father was of Mexican descent, and her mother was of English descent.

Gabaldon grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona. She obtained a bachelor of science in zoology from Northern Arizona University, 1970-1973; a master of science in marine biology from the University of California, San Diego; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1973-1975; and a PhD in behavioral ecology from Northern Arizona University, 1975-1978.

Personal life

Gabaldon and her partner, Doug Watkins, live in Scottsdale, Arizona, with whom she has three adult children. Sam Sykes' son, as well as a fantasy author, is a fantasy writer.

Gabaldon is a Roman Catholic.

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Career

Gabaldon, the founding editor of Science Software Quarterly in 1984 while employed at the Arizona State University's Center for Environmental Studies. Gabaldon wrote software reviews and technical papers for computer magazines, as well as popular science stories and Disney comics in the mid-1980s. She worked at ASU for a year as a scientist with a special interest in scientific computation before moving to write full-time.

Gabaldon decided to write a book about "practice, not to know how" in 1988, but had no intention to show it to anyone. She found that researching and writing a historical novel would be the most effective, but she had no expertise in history and had no time period in mind. Gabaldon was lucky to see "The War Games," a rerun episode of the Doctor Who science fiction television series. Jamie McCrimmon, a young man about 17 years old, was one of the Doctor's companions, and she was responsible for her book's Mid-18th century Scotland setting. Gabaldon wanted "an Englishwoman to play-off all these ilted Scots," but her female character "took over the tale and began telling it herself, making intelligent-ass modern observations about everything."

Gabaldon used time travel to describe the character's modern behavior and attitudes. She wrote the book "the old-fashioned way, by herself," during a time "when the World Wide Web didn't exist." On the CompuServe Literary Forum, where author John E. Stith introduced her to literary agent Perry Knowlton later, Gabaldon shared a short excerpt of her novel. Knowlton was based on an unfinished first book, tentatively titled Cross Stitch. Her first book contract was for a trilogy, the first book plus two later-unwritten sequels. The first book's name was changed to Outlander by her U.S. publishers, but the book's name remained unchanged in the United Kingdom. According to Gabaldon, her British publishers adored the term Cross Stitch, a play on "a stitch in time"; however, the American publisher said it "sounded too much like embroidery" and needed a more "adventurous" title; When Gabaldon's second book was published, she resigned from her teaching position at Arizona State University to become a full-time author.

Nine published books as of 2021 in the Outlander series. Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone, the ninth installment of the Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone, was published on November 23, 2021. In 2010, Gabaldon published The Exile (An Outlander Graphic Novel). The Lord John series is a spin-off of the Outlander books centered on a secondary character from the original series. Gabaldon revealed in September 2021 that she is working on her tenth Outlander series book, which may be the last.

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